Tag Archives: business

Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Storefronts, Reflections

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Storefronts, Reflections
Sidewalk shops and window reflections, San Francisco

Storefronts, Reflections. San Francisco, California. May 20. 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sidewalk shops and window reflections, San Francisco

Near the end of May I did one of my San Francisco walking street photography trips, heading up to The City on the train and then following a large loop through downtown San Francisco. San Francisco is a great walking city, and I’m able to cover a lot of ground and see a lot of diverse urban landscape on these walks — from the waterfront to business districts to industrial areas.

I saw a lot of interesting and possibly unexpected things in this little street side vignette. Oddly, there are no people in the photograph — more typically I line up an urban landscape like this one and then wait for subject to enter the frame. The colors, of the structures and of the shadow light, caught my attention — primarily we’re looking at the greenish awnings and the intense reds found in several places, with everything subject to the blue light of the shadows. And, of course, for this photographer it was frosting on the cake to be able to include the words on the awning in this photograph.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Hi Dive

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Hi Dive
The Hi Dive, Embarcadero, San Francisco

Hi Dive. San Francisco, California. May 20, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The Hi Dive, Embarcadero, San Francisco

San Francisco, a city with a truly interesting past, is being gentrified at an alarming rate. The absurd and explosive increase in real estate values in the region is one indication. Another is the rate at which formerly down and out areas are being “redeveloped” and filled with very expensive real estate.

In few places is this more apparent than along the waterfront north and south of ATT Park, where the Giants play. The area right around the ball park took off some years back, and soon become one of the most expensive areas in the City. (No surprise, given the views of the bay!) More recently the run down areas south of the park have been the site of a huge amount of new construction — run down open areas are now full of new buildings. In a few spots some of the old things remain, including along sections of the Embarcadero where the “Hi Dive” still stands, along with the Java House and (not for long) Red’s Java House.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Schnitzel Truck Line

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Schnitzel Truck Line
Schnitzel Truck Line

Schnitzel Truck Line. New York City. August 7, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Workers line up at a Manhattan schnitzel truck

I had just stopped nearby to grab a quick coffee and some breakfast, but these downtown workers were apparently already lining up for schnitzel at this mid-morning hour. Food carts and food trucks are ubiquitous in this part of Manhattan, though most are the standard hot dog and pretzel (and more) places. This one offered something a bit different from the usual fare.

The truck itself caught my attention — it isn’t every day that you catch a schnitzel-selling food truck. But there were several other visual elements that seemed interesting to me as well. In a purely visual sense, the complex pattern of the tree shadow on the concrete was striking, almost as if the pattern was part of the sidewalk. (As I shot it I thought about how this “pizza light” might pose similar challenges when photographing in the forest.) The people, obviously, also were intriguing. Except for the second guy in line, who apparently doesn’t want to risk losing his place, each person keeps a rather large distance between himself and the others. The guys at the back of the line busy themselves with their smartphones, and all four of them are visually almost identical, except that one of them is not wearing a pink shirt.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Chinatown Street

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Chinatown Street
Chinatown Street

Chinatown Street. New York City. August 10, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A narrow, empty street curves past small shops in New York City’s Chinatown

First off, I’m obviously not a “real” New Yorker — I love the place, but I’m most certainly a visitor and a west coast guy at heart. However, that means that for me many things that might seem familiar and perhaps even ordinary to long time New Yorkers are still special and new. My first visit to New York’s Chinatown area was only a few years ago. We came into the city on Christmas Eve and pretty much the only restaurants open nearby (we were staying on Canal Street) were in Chinatown, so we plunged into the throngs that typically seem to crowd the sidewalks here, eventually wandered down some narrow streets, and arrived at a restaurant where we met up with friends and family members for a wonderful dinner.

This time we got there a bit later during our trip, on an evening when we were all perhaps becoming just a bit travel-tired and when we wanted a dinner that wasn’t quite so expensive as some others we had recently enjoyed. One or both of our sons suggested that we meet up at a place in Chinatown again, and since we arrived a bit early I took advantage of the situation and made a few photographs on this wonderful little street, with its beautiful curve, small shops, and wildly colorful store fronts and signs. Most of the time this street was busy with passing pedestrians, but I waited a bit and managed to make this photograph of the empty street in the evening light. The details of such photographs are often fun and intriguing — the picture on the hair salon sign at the left, the bicycle sitting on its rear wheel at the far right, the colorful flags on one store front, and more.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.